December 22

December 22

1666 — The first official meeting of France’s Royal Academy of Sciences was held in the private library of Louis XIV on rue Vivienne, Paris. The first public meeting was on April 29, 1699, at the Louvre.

1903 — Magda Blondiau Arnold was born. Arnold is known for her work in the areas of emotion, neurophysiology, and perception and for refining the activation theory of emotion. Her bookPhysiological Differentiation of Emotional States summarized her research in these areas.

1908 — The first White House Conference on Children was proposed to President Theodore Roosevelt by a group of eight national leaders of children’s welfare organizations, headed by James E. West. West was a lawyer who had been raised in a Washington, DC, orphanage. President Roosevelt issued invitations on December 25, 1908, and the conference began on January 25, 1909.

1930 — Raymond D. Fowler was born. Fowler’s academic career was in clinical training and assessment. He headed court-ordered prison reform efforts in Alabama and has developed the first widely used computer-assisted interpretation system for the MMPI. APA President, 1988; APA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, 1989-present.

1944 — Gail E. Wyatt was born. Wyatt has studied the effects of abortion, childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual practices among women, especially African-American women. She was the first ethnic minority group member to receive the NIMH Research Scientist Award (1992). APA Award for Distinguished Contribution to Research in Public Policy, 1992.

1981 — The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies was incorporated. The first director was Robert Epstein. The purpose of the center is to direct behavioral research toward solving social problems.